TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Trip Notes 18 Jan to 25 Jan

St Maarten trip notes and attached pictures (below)
Jan 18 to Jan 25


Sat....American flight from Philly, smooth, hard landing, Check in at Simpson Bay Resort (Villas) two bedroom unit, very nice, after checkin went to Toppers for drinks, same good time as in past. Topper had significant personal losses but his bar looked the same as pre- IRMA

Sun...shopping, Carefore (cole bay), walked along beach to Mary boons, beers at yacht club, dinner at Lees, Lees ok but don’t like the new location, watch end of KC football game.

Mon, Philipsburg, , pool, lunch at jimbo’s - very nice and good food, walked by Royal Palm - lot of activity about 75 plus workers, still a lot of work needs to be done, don’t think it will be ready in early 2021.

Tues, orient beach,,few pot holes, looked about same as pre IRMA, beach has some minor erosion, very good weather, Le String, small bars almost ready but waiting for water, the collective very slow in issuing permits, dinner at Rancho del sol.. good and nice view.

Wed. Hang out at hotel pool, dinner at le Petrona.... very good meal, excellent service

Thursday back to orient beach, rain, pizza at rancho del sol ok but undercooked, toppers dinner and show- we had lobster and prime rib, both excellent- good value

Friday, visited Marigot the small marina still has extensive damage, less than half business have re-opened, this was depressing as we have stayed in Marigot on some of our early trips (over 20 years ago) went to Loonies bar/ restaurant on Cole bay for lunch, nice place good food, highly recommend. Dinner at Izi, excellent meal and service, prices reasonable.

Back home on Saturday, had lunch at sunset prior to flight - up and running - beach was packed, airport experience was slow but manageable, good flight back tp Philly

Overall, had a good time, the island has made progress but still has a way to go especially the French side. It appears tourism has taken a hit but most businesses we talked to said things were slowly coming back.

Thanks for the report and the pictures! Just had breakfast and now I'm hungry!! A week seems so short. When do you go back??

Nice report. As far as Royal Palm it is projected to be opening by August or late summer 2020 from recent Diamond update.

Thanks for the report and pictures.

Was it Loonies or Lagoonies where you ate lunch ? We're adding it to our meals list for upcoming trip.

Lagoonies, I had the wrong name

Next Jan, we use to stay at Royal Palm but really liked the Simpson Bay Marina resort

PERFECT Segway....I took this on Sunday looking at the SBR Villas. from Kim Sha... Typical sky for most of my 2 weeks......(not really...just seemed that way)....monsoon rain followed shortly after the pic was taken

Beautiful pic! Thanks for posting!

I agree regarding Lagoonies. Tried it for the first time last year and went back several times. Nice view, excellent food and beach bar feel. Menu was limited (everything listed on a board) but everything we tried was very good and had a French flair. Looking forward to going back this July.

my two cents regarding lagoonies. Great place for entertainment and drinks...but NOT a great place for food. VERY limited menu...small portions...and honestly, the few times we were there, the food was mediocre at best. It's not the restaurant to go if one is looking for a full nicer meal......but for bar food it passes.....barely.

That was my observation too.

Just curious....have you eaten there within the past year. The chef was relatively new when we went last year and the food was very good. Understand if you are unimpressed but unless you have eaten there since Spring of 2019, it is not the same.